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On Tuesday, GOP Representative Liz Cheney was defeated by Donald Trump-backed candidate Harriet Hageman in the Wyoming Republican primary election. Several experts anticipated Cheney’s loss prior to the election as she earned some criticism within the Republican circle ever since she started speaking against the former US President.
Following the results, Cheney told her supporters:
“Our republic relies upon the goodwill of all candidates for office to accept honorably the outcome of elections. And tonight, Harriet Hageman has received the most votes in this primary. She won. I called her to concede the race. This primary election is over. But now the real work begins.”
Cheney, a rare Republican Trump critic and the vice-chair of the January 6 House Select committee, has long faced strong opposition from Hageman.
Despite her defeat, people praised Liz Cheney for putting her country above her position and her party. Former US ambassador to the United Nations, Kenneth Adelman, told The Guardian:
“Whatever happens, she’s a winner. What she did was courageous. She showed that she was willing to put her politics on the line.”
Former Barack Obama strategist David Axelrod also called Cheney a “hero” on Twitter.
Meanwhile, some Republicans like Donald Trump Jr. took to social media to celebrate Cheney’s defeat.
New York’s Elise Stefanik, who replaced Cheney as the number three House Republican, told the publication:
“Congratulations to Harriet Hageman on her massive Republican primary victory in Wyoming over Nancy Pelosi’s puppet Liz Cheney.”
In her concession speech, Cheney maintained her stance towards Trump and said that she will continue to work towards ensuring that, “Donald Trump is never again near the Oval Office.”
A look into the rivalry between Liz Cheney and Donald Trump
Congresswoman Liz Cheney has long been known for her sharp criticisms of former US President Donald Trump. She decided to take a stand against Trump following the January 6 Capitol attack and was one of the 10 Republicans who voted for the impeachment of the 45th president of America.
In July 2021, Cheney became one of the only two Republican members appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the House Select Committee to investigate the January 6 Capitol riot. Nearly two months later, Cheney became the vice chair of the committee.
Shortly after the January 6 riot, Cheney issued an official statement claiming that Trump incited the mob to attack the Capitol:
“We just had a violent mob assault the US Capitol in an attempt to prevent those from carrying out our Constitutional duty. There is no question that the President formed the mob, the President incited the mob, the President addressed the mob. He lit the flame.”
She continued:
“This is what America is not. It has just been absolutely intolerable and unacceptable. The mob will not prevail.”
After Liz Cheney casted her vote in support of Donald Trump's second impeachment, she called out the former president for his alleged “betrayal”:
“None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”
While Cheney’s stance earned her major support from several Democrats and independents, she angered many in the Republican circle. On February 3, 2021, a closed-door, secret-ballot vote was conducted by the House Republican Conference to decide whether Cheney would be removed from her position in the Republican house.
Although the Congresswoman retained her position at the time, she was censured by the Wyoming Republican Party for her support towards Trump’s impeachment. However, Cheney refused to step down from her position and claimed that the censure incorrectly cited the Antifa and Black Lives Matter movement as the instigation behind the Capitol attack.
Liz Cheney was officially removed from as the House Republican Conference chair with a voice vote at a closed-door House Republican Conference meeting on May 12, 2021. That same month, she vowed for the first time that she would do everything she can to “ensure that Trump never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office.” She also said:
“We cannot let the former president drag us backward and make us complicit in his efforts to unravel our democracy.”
The Wyoming GOP Central Committee also organized a vote and elected to no longer recognize Cheney as a member of the party on November 13, 2021. Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee voted to censure Cheney on February 4, 2022, for aiding the investigation of the Capitol attack.
Back in July, Donald Trump called Cheney a “warmonger” and “despicable human being” in his Truth Social account:
“Warmongering and despicable human being Liz Cheney, who is hated by the great people of Wyoming (down 35!), keeps saying, over and over again, that HER Fake Unselect Committee may recommend CRIMINAL CHARGES against a President of the United States who got more votes than any sitting President in history.”
Following her latest defeat, Trump took another jibe at Cheney and thanked Wyoming for their decision:
“Liz Cheney should be ashamed of herself, the way she acted, and her spiteful, sanctimonious words and actions towards others. Now she can finally disappear into the depths of political oblivion where, I am sure, she will be much happier than she is right now. Thank you WYOMING!”
However, Liz Cheney pledged that she would continue to oppose the former President and called on Americans to join her in her fight:
"This is a fight for all of us together... I'm a conservative Republican. I believe deeply in the principles and the ideas on which my party was founded. I love its history, and I love what our party has stood for, but I love my country more.”
Cheney will also continue to aid the House Select committee in their investigation on Trump’s alleged involvement in the Capitol attack and possibly appear at the upcoming public hearings scheduled for the fall.
